Churches in Kotor
It is believed that in Kotor in the period from the 13th to the 20th century there were about 50 churches that disappeared due to various causes, mostly in the catastrophic earthquakes, the last of which occurred in 1979
Of the remaining churches, many have lost their original purpose.
The Baroque Church of St. Joseph was originally a school for young girls who could not attend the grammar school.
Church of St. Claire is also from the Baroque period. In his monastery there is also a library with a large number of books and about 100 incunabula.
Our Lady of Remedy became a votive church after one of the many plague epidemics. It was built in the middle of the ascent to the hill of St. John, below the Small Fortress, and it can only be reached by a staircase with 5 votive chapels.
The Orthodox Church was built between 1902 and 1909, on the site of the former church of the Dominican monastery of St. Nicholas in the city. Candlesticks, chandeliers and silver chandeliers are votive gifts of the citizens of Kotor.
In the Church of the Holy Spirit now there is a concert hall of the Kotor Music School. In the past, it also had an orphanage that was turned into a seminary at the end of the 19th century, and after the First World War into a hotel Graz. The church itself was abandoned until the 1979 earthquake
The baroque church of Our Lady of the Angels in a small square in the middle of the city with a huge poplar tree about 300 years old dates from the XVIII century. Around 1955 it was turned into a cinema. Since the beginning of the French occupation of Kotor, it was neglected and turned into a warehouse
The small churh of St.Michael is turned into a lapidary.
The church of St. Luke is visually interesting because of its free position in the space enclosed by buildings, which speaks of an older urban structure existed in the past. It houses two altars – Catholic and Orthodox – which vividly present religious tolerance in Kotor – the meeting place of eastern and western christianity.
The Romanesque church of St. Anne underwent enormous but unusual interventions in the 19th century, especially the facades, which were completely plastered, thus hiding the nicely hewn stone.
Only after the earthquake, when, due to the mentioned interventions on the facades, and due to the consequences of the earthquake, it could not even be guessed that it was a church building, St. Anne regained its original appearance
St. Mary of river or St. Mary’s Collegiate, is considered one of the oldest churches in Kotor. However, the present object was built in 1221 on the remains of an early Christian basilica from the 5th-6th century.
The most famous is the Cathedral of St. Tryphon. Although it was built on the foundations of an older church from IX dedicated to the new patron saint of the city, Sv. Tryphon, the year 1166 is considered the year of consecration of the altar of the present Romanesque cathedral.
Although this building has suffered significant damage in four major earthquakes, it has existed for almost nine centuries.